A Conversation Between Time and Space
by HeroChaosChao
Summary: Two ghosts of immense power and knowledge discuss various affairs of the Ghost Zone, Earth, and beyond. One, who controls time and the other that manipulates space. Highly recommend watching this video prior to reading: youtube(dot)com/watch?v(equal sign)xpnBYCR6-d4.
1. Chapter 1: The (Im)Patience of Time

**Time gives him meaning  
Yet he remains untethered  
By such a constraint**

* * *

Clockwork floated at the top of the tower of his lair, having completed his task of observing major activity on Earth and the Ghost Zone. A pale blue ghost with a dark robe and a timepiece affixed to his torso, he calmly anticipating his guest, one he was actually looking forward to seeing after quite some time. He knew she wasn't in the Ghost Zone at the moment and had a pretty good idea about where she would be coming from when she arrived. He knew that the only thing on his schedule today would bring something interesting to his rather monotonous existence, which made him chuckle a little. However, the "guests" that had just arrived were not who he wanted to see. Though he foresaw this possibility happening, this didn't make the intrusion any less frustrating.

"Clockwork," one of the ghosts spoke, his voice echoed throughout his lair. Clockwork let out a long sigh as he descended to their location. Perhaps his childlike appearance was appropriate to how felt their intelligence is. "The Observants. To what do I owe this….meeting?" The Observants, watchers of activity in the Ghost Zone and Earth, often employed Clockwork and other powerful ghosts for judgments that they deemed too difficult for themselves to handle. Lately, though, they had kept a close watch on Clockwork, giving him assignments that bordered on trivial.

"We came to discuss your task concerning Walker and-"

"That's been handled. The self-proclaimed warden of the Ghost Zone can easily handle these sorts of matters himself," he quickly stopped them. They stared at him for just a moment, trying to understand why he was quick to interrupt them. Normally he would begrudgingly take all of what they would say and shoo them away.

"*ahem* If you would allow us to continue. True, the matter has been resolved, but we asked YOU to resolve it. Why didn't you?" Clockwork gave them no answer for some time, shifting his looking glass to view Walker's prison, showing what seemed to be an attempted jailbreak by an inmate; said inmate was one of the strongest ghosts locked up to date. The creature somehow broke through floors and floors of lockdown areas only to be stopped by the electric collar forced upon it for straying too far from the area, something added to every inmate after two ghosts successfully started a riot and fled the prison. "Does this look like I need to step in. At all?"

"You know full well what this breakout could have erupted into Clockwork; furthermore, it was started by one of the Ghost Zone's most notorious beasts. We should be thankful that something that powerful is kept locked away."

As Clockwork became an adult, he pinched his fingers between his eyes. "No. You should be grateful that this issue was menial compared to the worst of our reality," he said calmly. "True, some of the deadliest ghosts reside in this realm, however, you know full well the worst of them are often kept in the ultimate prison for anything and anyone."

An unusually ironic chill went down The Observants' bodies. Just the mention of the one place all ghosts fear was enough to leave them stunned. One of them eventually spoke, "Yes...well, it's not like the Unworld is easily accessed. A certain sort of ghost portal must manifest for that to occur. The chances of that are abysmally low, so the issue at hand still stands."

"So, what did you expect me to do? Go into the past and attempt to convince the convict to settle down and not cause a scene?" Clockwork asked.

"Yes."

There was silence….

….More silence as Clockwork rested his now old head on his staff becoming more annoyed, wondering just how shortsighted these ghosts truly are. "I can't just convince someone to change their ways. Just because I know everything doesn't mean I control everything." One Observant flew towards an unusual looking thermos on a table. "You did manage to convince one person."

Clockwork, once more a child, turned back to his looking glass, revealing a teenage boy, one that Clockwork has observed for quite some time since he was first tasked with ending his life, however, he had different plans in mind. "That decision was his and his alone. He defied his future. I had no influence on his choice."

"Need we also remind you that you, effectively, cheated with that task to get the result you desired?" Clockwork smiled a little. "I only made sure that everything was as it needed to be for him, his world, and the Ghost Zone. Nothing more."

Clockwork continued, "Another thing about your "issue": why task the ghost of time to deal with this? Rift would have been the far better option".

"You know she doesn't take much of anything seriously despite her power."

 _Well then, you don't know how she really is_ , Clockwork thought. _However, I'm sure you're frightened of her power. Just as you are of mine._

"If you wanted this inmate taken care of, she could have easily opened a portal and thrown him into the Unwor-"

"Do not speak of that place any further, Clockwork," they said angrily.

"...My point is, for something so trivial, why not take the easiest option? It seems that you only look at one possible solution rather than many and often time the most complicated option. More to the point, why did you not take care of it yourselves? You have enough clout and power as a group to speak to Walker and carry out the prevention of that attempted breakout."

The Observants were at a loss for words. "Is that all?" Clockwork asked, actually beginning to show some amount of anger and impatience.

"...Yes. We will take our leave now." As they began to depart they noticed some dents on the thermos, made from the inside out. "One more thing, are you positive that device will keep him contained? There are other ways to dispatch of him for good."

"He will remain there. Now, thank you for "gracing" me with your presence," he said as the Observants left. _Even though he is here, outside of time, the boy still could become him. He could very well escape the thermos. I know the risk I'm taking leaving it here. I do wonder what Rift will think about this though. I know she knows at least some of what occurred._ Clockwork floated back to the top of his lair, contemplating these things as he awaited the ghost named Rift.

* * *

**Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction and my first major piece of creative writing after many years. Feedback would be appreciated! I came up with this story after watching this video from Butch Hartman himself (see summary for link) and applying a little logic here and there. I recommend watching the video to get a lot of what will follow in the upcoming chapters. Also I recommend watching "The Ultimate Enemy" as there will events referenced from that in upcoming chapters, but if you're reading this, odds are you have already. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2: The (Un?)Awareness of Space

**Pre-fic Author's Note: If you didn't watch the video in the summary, you really need to before reading this. One of the characters is in that video. If you didn't, please refer to the summary or use this ( (slash) watch (question mark) v (equals sign) xpnBYCR6 (dash) d4 (ampersand) t). Sorry, the link won't show up otherwise. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Dimensions flowing**

 **She is the space all around her**

 **And nothing at all**

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"Bishop takes your knight," a somewhat deep voice said to her. Her eyes widened in interest. "You seem surprised by my play, Rift. Are you losing your touch out-predicting me at a simple game of chess?" Rift looked up at her opponent, revealing only a small hand from underneath her cosmic-looking cloak. "I cannot say. I guess not anticipating such a play from you makes things more fun, Sojourn. Rook takes pawn."

One of the places the nomadic ghost Sojourn frequented was Rift's Observatory. This was only one of a few places he found fascinating, which was saying something considering he had charted out and chronicled every section of the Ghost Zone, even places only thought to be a myth. The spatial ghost proved to be quite the entertaining acquaintance with her penchant for playing with her opponents.

"If you don't mind me asking, aren't you supposed to be meeting with Clockwork?" he asked, moving queen into a choice position. "Check." Rift giggled a little, revealing through her telescope that Clockwork was...occupied at the moment. "I saw the Observants going to him. I do believe he has some business with them before I do with my temporal friend. Bishop takes rook."

Sojourn let out a laugh. "You are a cruel one, indeed! Of course, if I hadn't known any better, I'd just think you were a naive little girl trying to not be impolite, but that's not you. That's not what makes you tick, Rift. Queen takes rook. Check." Rift floated away from the chessboard lost in thought. _Unlike Clockwork, I do not easily see the potential actions others could take. A ghost such as myself is locked in the present. It would not be wrong of me to say that I am a bit jealous of him in that regard. Time means nothing to him. What makes others "tick"...it is more than just toying with them to me._

"Rift? Are we going to continue our game?" Sojourn asked, snapping her back into reality. "I apologize. It seems your statement made me realize something, but it is not of importance right now," she said smiling, returning to the board and making her move. "Knight takes rook. Check."

He gave her a look, trying to read the playful yet enigmatic ghost, but to no avail. "If you say so. Then let's change the topic. There are two manmade portals between the Ghost Zone and Earth, did you know that?" She looked on attentively, like a child waiting to hear a bedtime story. "Of all the places on Earth, they're in...where were they again? Well I remember one of the places was Wisconsin."

"Oh? Do tell," Rift replied simply. "I would like to know why and who made those portals. Humans really love sticking their heads into the Ghost Zone intentionally." She continued to look at him, smiling innocently. "You know something, don't you?", he said, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

His glare intensified, trying to read her again…

After what seemed like an eternal staring contest, Sojourn broke the silence. "Alright, stop feigning ignorance and tell me what you know." Rift smirked, happy that he finally asked. "Of course I know about those portals. One was actually made in an experiment about twenty years ago, but of course, it was an experiment. In fact, those involved in that experiment made the portals you found on your travels."

"And you didn't tell me immediately why?" he asked. "You did not bother asking. Also, it is your move."

"...Fair point on both," he said.

Annoyed but amused, he decided to continue on with his questions. "So, that means you know who specifically made them?" he asked further, thinking about his next play on the board. "Queen takes knight. Check."

"Indeed I do, however, I have paid close attention to one of those individuals. I have since he acquired ghostly abilities, or rather made some...use of them. Oh, I seem to have lost both of my knights. You are becoming more unpredictable!" she answered happily. He continued his friendly interrogation. "Abilities? So he's only half ghost. I've heard there are two half ghosts out there, though I've only heard about one. So were you told to keep an eye on him?"

Rift floated to her telescope, motioning for her guest to come with her. "No I was not," she said as she changed the view, throwing her cloak open, revealing...nothing. Nothing at all. The ghost in the lens was reminiscent of a traditional vampire in fiction. "Based on what I have seen from him, I deem him a long term threat; something like that should not go unnoticed," she continued, sounding unusually serious. "Does he need to been sent...there?" he asked, sounding worried. She smiled gently as the nothing under her cloak became ectoplasmic tendrils. "Not at the moment. I believe the actions of the other half ghost are keeping me from going that far. Shall we get back to our game?"

"You really don't worry about much about things do you?" he asked. "Not really. If I am required to keep an eye on things or something I deem a potential threat in the long term, then I worry. The short term? Not so much. Living in the moment is a wonderful thing in that regard. Now, where was I?" Rift responded, pondering her next play. "I guess I do not have a choice on this move. Pawn takes rook. Check. And in case you are curious, the younger half ghost is the reason I am going to see Clockwork shortly."

"Is he done speaking with The Observants? Knight takes pawn. Check."

Rift once again changed the view on her telescope lens. "Yes, but I would not want to leave this game unfinished. That would be rude to you, Sojourn." Her eyes widened, finally seeing a winning move in sight. "I do have one question for you, though. Why stay in the Ghost Zone? Though I know everything in the present of all activity across dimensions, I still do not know the reasoning behind some actions...like why you would rather stay here than reside in the Elsewhereness. You found it and I could easily take you there at anytime," she said, moving her bishop to proceed with her strategy. "I guess...I can't leave travelling behind me. You'd have to give up what you're connected to if you stay there. It might take away pain and fear, but it doesn't take away regret and I want to travel everywhere I can before I rest in the Elsewhereness for good," he responded; he looked perplexed at Rift's previous play, moving his queen piece once more. "I could ask you the same thing. After all you are the only ghost that can go there at will, but of course you have a job to do here. You are fickle on who you think should be allowed to go to the Elsewhereness."

She giggled again. "I guess I am. I do not believe every ghost deserves to be there, but if a ghost finds it and wants to stay, who am I to stop them? May I am not fit for such a pure place either." Her giggling became full laughter. "What's so funny?" he asked. She calmed down, picking up another piece. "I had hoped our game would last a little longer. I do find it amusing when Clockwork gets grumpy from my tardiness. Rook takes Queen….checkmate."

Sojourn looked at the board shocked. He actually thought he would be able to get his first win against her this time. "You baited me with the bishop didn't you?" He chuckled for a bit. "You...are...a cruel one. Still haven't beaten you after hundreds of games." He grabbed his staff and headed for the door. "I guess I'll be leaving now. You have some business to attend to at the moment." Rift smiled at him, concealing her matter-shifting body under her cloak again. "Will you return soon?" she asked. He faced her one last time before leaving. "If I can figure out a way to finally best you at chess, then...yes."

 _Now then...time to see how sinister Clockwork's prisoner really is. I do wonder if that ghost fought my future self. I wish I could know...That's why I play with others. That is the only way I can get to know them. Anticipate their actions. See the future. Clockwork, I do wonder if you know how lucky you have it knowing all of that without needing to do a thing._ She mused all of this, flying into a portal of her own creation to meet her temporal counterpart.

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**Post-fic Author's Note: I had fun coming up with the idea of Rift. I also have fun coming up with and working ideas that weren't exactly expanded upon in Danny Phantom (for a variety of reasons as we all probably know). I would like to write something focusing on Sojourn in the future about his travels in the Ghost Zone. I'm actually getting to the main part of this next time. I hope you're enjoying this so far!


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